DIALOG@ITECH.

• Position: Electronic data interchange

Company Questions/Tech Solutions

Company: Talbott's Mountain Gold, Palisade

Talbott's is a century-old, family-owned apple and apple products producer in the Grand Valley. Customers include large groceries, retailers, brokers, distributors.

Question: "I do think there are ways we can use EDI (Electronic Data Interchange, the transfer of data between different companies using the Internet) to enhance our efficiencies. We are using Peachtree (Software's 6.0 accounting package) for making truck manifests and invoices. How do I go in and set it up one time so (the EDI system) can recognize my format and convert it to the format (customers) desire? We need to streamline it." -- Charlie Talbott, produce sales

Talbott noted that just one large client now requires EDI; others use it, but don't require it. Also, he said:

EDI has created redundancies -- keying numbers into both the Peachtree and EDI programs.

He can foresee using EDI only for billing and accounting purposes. This is still a phone and face-to-face business, with faxed orders following personal contact.

Talbott's today uses EDI through a third-party provider referred by the client. An irony, Talbott said, is that the provider's P.O.s are "written with their errors, so we have to duplicate their errors," when sending data back, since changing them would disturb the data. It's frustrating, Talbott adds: The client keeps saying, "Listen, we're going to start fining you for errors" generated by the client.

Costs are about $50 a month, including a $200 a year fee, plus per-transaction fees. The company now sends about three Invoices a week to the EDI company. Snail mail costs about $15 a month.

Q: Can the data in Peachtree be converted to an EDI format, conveniently?

A: No, said Brian Smith vp of operations at PARSEC Group...